-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Portugal 's Sergio Paulinho won stage 10 to hand Lance Armstrong 's RadioShack team their first victory in the Tour de France .

Paulinho narrowly held off Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus after both riders launched a bid for the line with 14km of the stage remaining .

The peloton never threatened to go with the pair and rolled in at their leisure , with Paulinho becoming the first Portuguese stage winner since Acacio Da Silva in 1989 .

It brought some comfort to his RadioShack team , led by American Lance Armstrong , who conceded his chances of winning the Tour disappeared over the weekend .

Andy Schleck 's overall lead was never threatened during the 179km stage from Chambery to Gap , while the home crowd could not celebrate a local winner in sweltering temperatures on Bastille Day .

Britain 's Mark Cavendish led the peloton home and finished ninth grabbing 12 points in the green jersey standings . Italy 's Alessandro Petacchi came tenth .

The top ten riders in the general classification standings were unchanged meaning race leader Andy Schleck made sure he retained the yellow jersey for another day .

Paulinho , who won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in the road race , was part of a six-man break and only a determined sprint prevented Kiryienka picking up Belarus ' first ever Tour win .

`` It was a close sprint but the most important thing is to win and so this moment , for me and my team , is a good one , '' Paulinho told the official Tour de France website . `` I hope that in the coming days the team can achieve a few more victories .

`` For me this victory is more important than the silver medal in the Olympic Games . This is the best race in the world and to win one stage in the Tour is the pinnacle of what a cyclist can achieve . ''

Overall leader Schleck was pleased with a comfortable day in the saddle : `` It was quite an easy day even if it was fast at the beginning . It was a breakaway day so we took it kind of easy behind .

`` Okay , there was a lot of wind so the team had to do some work all the way to Gap but it was n't too stressful . I had a little bit of time to enjoy my first day in the yellow jersey .

`` It was not a day for me to do anything . Even if it was quite up and down , there was nothing for me to achieve . ''

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Portugal 's Sergio Paulinho wins stage ten of the Tour de France

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Paulinho hands Lance Armstrong 's RadioShack team their first Tour victory

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The top ten riders in the general classification standings were unchanged after stage ten